NORTH SIMCOE – The smiles were evident in Penetanguishene, but not so much in Midland, as the towns’ teams hit the ice this past weekend in Georgian Bay Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League play.
The Midland Flyers and Penetang Kings played road contests Sunday. In Huntsville, the Flyers lost 6-5 to the Otters, while the Kings skated past the Caledon Golden Hawks by a 7-4 score.
“Caledon is playing a good, solid system,” said Kings head coach Dale Gignac. “They’re definitely not the doormats in the league they were before.”
It was the end of a busy stretch of games for the Kings, who toughed out a 5-4 win over the Erin Shamrocks on Nov. 30, after losing 5-2 to the Schomberg Cougars on Nov. 29.
“We didn’t play badly, except that we weren’t able to capitalize on our scoring chances,” Gignac said of the Schomberg game.
He was happier with the effort turned in during the 5-4 win over Erin.
“The players were able to reach down and find themselves and battle back,” he said. “All in all, I thought it was a good defensive effort by the boys.”
On Sunday in Caledon, the Kings scored two unanswered third-period markers to pull out the 7-4 win. Aaron Fischer collected two goals and one assist, while Sammy Gagnon, Craig Robinson, Nick Arcan, Hayden Cole and Matt Meher added single markers. Matt Fischer added two assists, while Adam Redgate earned the win in net.
In action in Huntsville, meanwhile, the Flyers dug themselves a deep hole, trailing 3-0 by the 8:16 mark of the opening period.
“If you don’t come ready to play, you might not find yourself in a position to win,” said Flyers head coach Ed Garinger. “Our guys realized after they got down early that Huntsville has a lot of pride and they’ve made some changes to their lineup and they came ready to play.”
Previously an assistant coach with the team, Garinger was elevated to head coach last week following the sudden resignation of Justin Murray in his first year with the team.
Curtis Warren (3), Cody Beasley and Jon Goldsworthy scored for the Flyers. Beasley added two assists.
“You have to play 60 minutes of hockey in any league to be successful, and so hopefully Sunday’s loss is a learning experience for our guys,” noted Garinger.
Marco Colangelo took the loss in the Midland net. Ex-Kings netminder Alex Ebner earned the win for the Otters.
In their 5-4 victory over Erin, Matt Fischer, Austin Fischer, Tyler Zeggil, Gagnon and Meher scored. Austin Fischer added two assists. Redgate registered the win in net.
Arcan and Robinson each scored in the road loss to Schomberg.
Following weekend action, Midland continues to lead the North Division with a 15-8 record and 30 points, six points in front of Penetang (10-10-3-1).
On the schedule this week, the Kings play in Stayner on Thursday against the Siskins at 8:10 p.m. The same night, the Flyers travel to Schomberg.
On Friday at 8 p.m., the Kings will host the Flyers at the Penetanguishene Memorial Community Centre.